This style of Tinder pouch was becoming very popular in the late 18th to early 19th Century especially in countries like Tibet and they were elaborately decorated. Small stones and Tinder would be added into the pouch and carried around in the pockets. We’ve taken one of our most popular leather pouches, the ‘Mini Pocket Pouch’ and have added a Striker to the exterior of the Pouch . The Striker has actually been securely stitched into the seam of the pouch and is surprisingly easy to use. We’ve added in a few appropriate sized pieces of Norfolk Flint , some Amadou and some Jute Twine for the makings of a small Tindle Bundle. You can add your own pieces of tinder if you wish but we wanted it to reflect the time of that era by making it simple. Each of these Leather Mini Pocket Tinderboxes have been hand stitched, hand dyed to give them an aged rustic patina and some of our designs have been hand tooled to give them a slightly individual touch.

The Tinder Pouch

This high quality Pocket sized Pouch has been hand stitched, wet moulded, hand dyed and then hand tooled to give the pouch some authentic character. The whole idea is that it is pocket sized and tough!! Its just big enough to contain all your basic needs for a small Tinder Pouch. This little Mini Pouch has been handmade by us at Beaver Bushcraft and we have carefully let the texture of the leather show to add a little bit of character and patina.

The Jute Tinder Cord

The Pocket Tinderbox contains 12 Inches of Jute Tinder Cord that has been made from natural plant fibres, which are loosely twisted into a 3-yarn cord. It is the best jute that there is for traditional ‘Flint & Steel’ fire lighting. it is easy to carry a few of these cords in your tinderbox ready to make a Tinder Bundle without having to scavenge around for dried bulky grasses, plant downs and other materials to make your Tinder Bundle. It takes just one piece of Jute Tinder Cord to create a fire.

Simply:

Untwist one piece of Jute Tinder Cord into its constituent fibres.

Fluff the fibres up and roll into a loose ball to make a small Tinder Bundle.

Place a glowing ember into the Jute Cord Tinder Bundle.

Gently wrap the fibres around the ember.

Wave the Tinder Bundle in the air, or gently blow on it until it starts to produce a thick greenish smoke.

Give it a few hard short puffs of air and it will burst into flames.

Place burning Tinder Bundle into a previously prepared Fire Lay and hey presto you have a nicely burning camp fire.

Amadou is made from the Horse’s Hoof Fungus, which has a fine, velvety layer resembling suede leather. This suede-like trama layer is sandwiched between a tough nut-like, outer, layer called the Cuticle and the pores, which are thousands of tiny tubes all packed together. The Horse’s Hoof Fungus is mainly found on dead trees such as the Birch and Beech, and it resembles a horse’s hoof – hence its common name. Amadou is very hard to source, and even more difficult to make well.

Amadou was used by our ancient forefathers because it makes excellent tinder able to catch even the vaguest of sparks, it is probably one of the best tinder that can be found in nature. It is has a beautiful velvet feel and is as resilient as suede leather and can be stored indefinitely. Amadou has been used for fire-making for thousands of years, and would have been found in virtually every travellers tinder box because of its great reliability.

Once your Amadou has caught a spark, it will begin to glow and gently smoke. This newly formed ember is very hard to extinguish since it burns so INCREDIBLY HOT. Any wind or breeze that blows on it will cause it to get even hotter!

Once the ember has become established, to your satisfaction, you have more than ample time to place the Amadou ember into the centre of a previously prepared tinder bundle – and then blown into a flame. Whilst Amadou burns very hot it burns at a steady and slow pace; a small piece, about the size of your thumb nail will burn for a good minute or so.